softness of the éarth, and the wall will not be
vveakned by the battery, only here and there,
and those {mail breaches, or rather holes, that
are made in it, will presently be itopt up again.
In Sicily, their Pumicc-lloncs, which they have
in great plenty, will do e,xtreamly well sor this
kind of work : but in other places, for want
of Pumiee-sloncs and earth, any sofc slone may
be made lise of; nor is terrass amiss for this purl
pose. Lailly, if any part of such a slruflure
iland exposed to the moid Southerly winds, or
nocturnal vapours, cloath and face it with a ssiell
of Stone. And particularly it will be of great
sicrvice to let the outer bank of the ditch have a
good Hope, and lie a pretty deal higher than the
ground beyond it: for this will baulk the aim of
the military engines, and make them throw over
the wall. And sonie think no wall is so safe
againll battery, as those which are built in uneven
lines, like the teeth of a Saw. I am very well
pleased with those walls in Rome, which at about
half way up to the top have a walk witli little
private holes, out of which, the archers may pri-
vately annoy the enemy, as he moves about the
Field in security ; and at the dillance of every fif-
ty cubits are Towers, adjoyning to the wall like
buttiesses, projefling out in a round figure for-
wards, and somewhat higher than the wall itself;
so that whoever osfers to approach between these
towers, is exposed to be taken in ssank and (lain :
and thus the Wall is defended by these towers,
and the towers mutually by one another. The
back of the Towers, which look into the Town,
ought to have no wall, but shou'd be left quite
open and naked ; that if the enemy shou'd get
posselhon of them, they may not be safe in them
srom the assaults of the inhabitants. The Cor-
nislies of the Towers and Walls, bclides that they
add to their beauty, and are a ligature to lltengthen
the work, do alio by their projection hinder the
getting into the Town from sailing Ladders. Some
are for leaving precipices or deep holes here and
there along the side of the Wall, and especially
near the Towers, fortified with wooden Bridges
which may be presently railed or let down, as oc-
calion requires. The Ancients tiled on each lide
of their Gates to erect two Towers, larger than
the rell, and strongly fortified on all sides, to se-
dire and protect the entrance into the Town.
There ought to be no rooms with vaulted roofs in
the Towers, but only wooden ssoors, that upon
any emergency may ealily be removed or burnt ;
and those ssoors lhou'd not be fallened with nails,
N n that